Improved excavator



Urra lSTATES JOEL LEE, OF GALESBURG, ILLINOIS.

IMPYROVED xoAvATo R.

Specication forming part of Letters Patent No. 86,678, dated February 9,1869.

'To all whom t may concern:

Beit known that I, JOEL LEE, of Galesburg, in the county ofKnox, andinthe State of Illinois, haveinvented certain newand useful Iniprovementsin Excavators; and I do herebyV declare thefollowing to 'ne a full,clear, and exact description thereof, reference beinghad to theaccompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

,The nature of my invention consists in the construction and generalarrangement of an excavator; and in order to enable others skilled inthe art to which lny invention appeitains to make and use the same, Iwill now proceed to describe its construction and oper-ation, referringto the annexed drawings, which form a part of this specification, and inwhich- Figure l is a longitudinal vertical section, and Fig. 2 is a planview of a part of the machine.

A A represent the wheel; B B, the axletrees.

D is a box hung on the rear axle-tree, as much of it below the axle aspossible and still leave rooln for the bottom boards to open downward.The box D is coupled to the forward axle-tree by the draft-bar S, whichis extended forward of the axle-tree, and is provided wlth a series ofholes for the purpose of regulating the depth of the scoop, as will behereinafter described. Across the upper part of the box D and in frontof the hind axle is placed a shaft, E, one end of which is provided witha pinion, P', which gears into and is driven by the spurwheel G, securedto one of the rear wheels.

A frame, q, is hung loosely on the shaft E, and tliefront end of saidframe, in which the scoop J is secured, is suspended by the bail t andlink g, which latter is pivoted by a bolt in the front end of thedraft-bar S. The draftbar S having, as above mentioned, a series ofholes, the position of the link g can be changed either backward orforward, thus regulating the depth at which the scoop J will work.`

On the sides of the box D, exactly in rear of V A movable drum, C, isplaced on the shaft E, around which drum the endless apron s isV placed,said apron passing around a small roller in the front end of the frameq. below the scoop J. One end of the drum U is notched, and may bethrown in and out of gear with the pin a on the shaft E by means ofthelever F, one end of which is fitted into a groove on the drum. By thismeans the apron s is made to move when the machine is in motion.

At asuitable point on the frame q two oscillating arms, n n, arepivoted, which arms extend forward, and their front ends rest on theupper vedges of the scoop J". Between the front ends of the arms naisplaced the revolving sweep l, provided with arms m m, said sweep beingrevolved in the right directionby means of crossed belt r, passingaround the same and around the drum C.

- The box D is provided with a series of boards,-

J J, forming its bottom. These boards are pivoted in the sides of thebox, at or near their front edges, and so arranged that the rear edge ofthe front board laps over and rests on the front edge ot' the secondboard. The front edge of the second laps over and rests on the rear edgeof the third, and so on until the last `or rear board, the rear edge ofwhich is held The rods or axles on which the bottom boards,

J J, turn extend on one side the box ll), and are bent upward, eachbeing then with a chain, o o fu', connected to a lever, t, at dierentdistances from its fulcrunl. Thechainso'fv 17 should be so arranged thatby moving the lever t forward (supposing the bottom of the box isopen)the front board will be raised a little more than t-he second, thesecond alittle more than the third, and so on, thus allowing the frontedge of each board to clear the rear edge of the next before this latterhas been turned so much that it would be impossible. When the last boardhas been raised up the catch H passes under its rear edge, holding thesame up. A spring may be placed so as to press the catch H into itsposition.

When the machine is in operation the drum C is pressed so as to gearwith the pin a by means of the lever F. The scoop J scoops up the dirtand throws it onto the aprons, which carries it upward and allows it tofall into the box D. The revolving sweep l is hung far enough from thebottom of the scoop to permit thedirt to pass under itwithout hittingthe sweep when the scoop scours and the dirt passes up freely; but incase of loose dirt or sand, and it is inclined to pile on the scoop,then the arms m m force the 'surplus onto the apron, and should they'hita hard substance the oscillating arms'rJ n will let them rise until theobstruction is past. Theil the sweep descends with its own weight, butcontinu s to revolve all the time. rlhe arms n a and sweep lshould bemade heavy enough to keep them down to theirwork. When the box D is fullthe scoop is raisedup in a manner that will hereinafter be described.The machine is then drawn to where the dirt is wanted and the dirtemptied by letting the bottom boards, J J, fall down, as above setforth.

l use -two different modes for raising the A scoop J up outof theground, one for smaller apparatuses may, however, be attached to thesame machine, if so desired.

To the front ends ofthe frame q, l attach a bail or bent rod, Y, whichextends above the scoop J, and to the frontv part ofthe draftbar C areattached two levers, one an elbowlever, V, with its fulcrum at W, andthe other a foot-lever, X, which two levers are connected as shown inFig. 1. The rear end of the foot* lever X extends backward under thebail AY. so that by pressing on the iront part of said foot-lever, andat the same time pulling on the lever V, the foot-lever catches in thebail Y and raises up the front end'of the frame g with.

the scoop.- Under the drivers seat, which is just over the scoop, ispivoted an arm with a catch, D, on which the bail Y, when raised asabove described, will hook, thus holding the disengaged and the scoopfalls down to the ground.

For larger and heavier machines the device above described for raisingthe scoop would i not answer. On such machines l place a shaft,

H, in suitable bearings, one end under the driver-s seat and the otheron top ot' the side of the box D. This latter end of the shaft H4 isprovided with a pinion, N, which gears with raising it.

a bevelwheel, P, on the upper endota vertical shaft having suitablebearings between the.

is thus turned by the motion of the driving' wheels. At the front end ofthe shaft- H is placed a movable pulley, C, which has a beveledprojectiouand notch, as shown in Fig. -1. This pulley C is connected bya chain or rope, A, to an arm, Z, on the bail Y, or may be attached tothe bail itself. On the inner end of the shaft H is a pin7 so that bymoving the pulley U inward by means of the lever B said pin catchesinthe notch on the pulley, turning thesameandraisingthescoopoutoftheground. A pin, c', is placed under the driversseat in such a position that when the pulley C has been turnedsufficiently to raise the scoop up the beveled projection on the pulleystrikes the said pin e', throwing the pulley out ot' gear again, whenthecatch D catches the bail Y, holding the scoop up, as by the othermode of Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new,and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isy l. The arrangement oftheframe q, hung loosely ou the shaft E, wings x, scoop J, bail t', andadjustable link g, all constructed to operate substantially es and forthe purposes p herein set forth.

2. The combination of the oscillating arms u u, revolving sweep l, andits arms m m, with the scoop J, endless apron s, movable drum C, andbelt'r, all constructed and arranged to operate substantially as and forthe purposes herein set forth.

3. The arrangement of theleverV, foot-lever X, and bail Y, for thepurpose of raising' the scoop from the ground, substantially as hereinset forth.

' 4. rlhe arrangement of the catch D, with its arm and weighted lever E,for the purpose of suspending the scoop when raised from the ground,substantially as shown and described.

5. The arrangement of the revolving shaft H', movable pulley C, pin e',and chain A, all constructed as described, and operating to raise thescoop from the ground, substantially as herein set forth. 4

JOEL LEE.

Witnesses:

S. C. SLATER, GEORGE LEE.

